Nephrolithiasis - John C. Lieske

The Biostatistics/Epidemiology Core

Core Director
Eric J. Bergstralh

This core is responsible for all statistical, data management, and epidemiological aspects of the Mayo Clinic Urology O'Brien Center research grant. It serves all major projects as well as pilot projects and is staffed by members of the Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics and Division of Epidemiology who have expertise in statistical analysis, data management, and study design. Further, the Core investigators have extensive experience in the applications of quantitative methods to urologic and kidney problems, including nephrolithiasis.

The objectives of the Core are:

1. Provide high quality consultation to project investigators regarding study design, data analysis and interpretation of results;
2. Maintain and extend the existing Olmsted County kidney stone database (Project 3);
3. Develop additional databases and quality control procedures for O'Brien Center research grant studies, which are of high quality and linkable; and
4. Foster and develop junior faculty in the statistical and epidemiological approach to clinical questions in nephrolithiasis.

The existence of the Biostatistics/Epidemiology Core provides the O'Brien Center research grants with uniform and efficient plans for protocol design, data management, quality control, and statistical analysis. Further, Core investigators will have a broad view of the O'Brien Center research grant, which will allow them to identify potential new interdisciplinary hypotheses and projects.